In March and April, when the rainy season arrives, the entire Lingnan area is submerged in the continuous drizzle, which is quite annoying.
Because of the rain, the pirates did not come to harass the harbor, and it could have been a few days of peace. But Yan Shang was a man who could not sit still. After he had recovered a lot in Lingnan, he began to think about more things, such as encouraging farmers and reclaiming wasteland.
There are too many abandoned and useless wastelands in Lingnan, and it is not easy to find good farmland. Yan Shang was a little worried about this.
Compared to him, who was busy in and out, Mu Wanyao was tortured by the continuous drizzle of this month. The rain kept falling, and she lay on the couch for several days, looking listless and listless, which alarmed her father to come over to see her, thinking that she was sick.
Mu Wanyao had no choice but to cheer up.
As soon as the rain stopped and the sun came out a little, Mu Wanyao was afraid that she would miss this good weather or it would continue to rain for the next half month, so she quickly grabbed her husband who had been busy with official duties to accompany her out to appreciate the flowers and go for an outing.
If she stayed in the house any longer after the rain, she would get moldy, and if Yan Shang kept busy, he would fall ill again.
Yan Shang was dragged by Mu Wanyao to visit a lake. This lake was a beautiful scenery that Mu Wanyao discovered after he had been playing around all day in Lingnan. The lake was wide, the water was clear, and there were lush and ancient trees by the lake, making the scenery pleasant.
Mu Wanyao arranged for the carriage to stop by the lake. She happily asked people to move stools out of the carriage and find an incense burner, and also asked people to pile up firewood and make a fire. It was obvious that she was going to have fun here with Yan Shang.
However, after working for a long time, she found that she had forgotten about her husband and lost him. Mu Wanyao was panicked for a moment, because Yan Shang had been a little absent-minded recently because of farming, and she was really afraid that he would get into trouble accidentally.
Mu Wanyao sent her servants to look for Yan Shang, and then she found the young man looking at the lake under the shade of a willow tree.
Yan Shang stared at the lake without blinking, and only after Mu Wan shook him and coughed twice did he come back to his senses and look back at her. When he saw her, a gentle smile appeared in his eyes.
Mu Wanyao couldn't blame him for running around and making people anxious.
She stood beside him, smiling as she and his eyes fell on the lake: "How is it?"
She was very proud of herself, saying that she was the one who discovered this beautiful scenery.
Yan Shang smiled: "Okay."
Mu Wan raised her eyes and was about to brag when she saw Yan Shang staring at the lake, unwilling to look away. She heard him mutter, "If we fill up this lake, we can get an extra 100 or 200 hectares of good farmland. The problem of good farmland that has been bothering me recently will be solved."
Mu Wan shook: "......?"
Her eyes widened: Fill, fill the lake? He was looking at such a beautiful scenery, and the only thing he was thinking about was filling the lake?
She thought he had a clear vision and was just enjoying the beautiful scenery.
Mu Wanyao was unhappy: "Don't you think the lake and the sky are beautiful?"
Yan Shang said, "I just feel upset. Such a large area of land is left empty... Why leave it empty? Drain the water and turn it into farmland to solve the problem of Lingnan having more wasteland and less good farmland... It should be worth a try."
Mu Wanyao was displeased with his pragmatism; she frowned and said nothing.
Yan Shang thought for a while, and after figuring out how to handle this matter, he held Mu Wanyao's hand and said with a smile: "Yaoyao, you are so kind, you helped me so much..."
He turned around to admire her and met her gloomy face. Yan Shang was startled and realized what was wrong.
Mu Wanyao shook off his hand and flew into a rage: "Fill in the lake, fill in the lake! I asked you to come out to play because I was afraid you would get bored. Now it seems that you'd better stay in your little room and get moldy! You've ruined my fun by coming out, so what's the point of having you!"
She turned and left.
Yan Shang followed her. He was smart at this time and followed her and whispered, "What did I do wrong again? Don't you like me filling the lake?"
Mu Wan lifted her skirt and walked away, cursing him: "Only a devil would like that! You filled up the lake, where can I go to enjoy the scenery? I really regret bringing you out, you are a blockhead, a stone head, you can't see the slightest romance, you only remember your government affairs and mundane matters...
"Go and marry your people! Go and marry thousands of people by yourself!"
The maids like Qiusi who followed the princess looked around, and even pointed at the lake and sky with a smile in their eyes. It was obvious that the princess scolding her husband was a common occurrence, and the maids went from being panicked at the beginning to now considering it normal and were no longer afraid of the princess getting angry.
Yan Shang felt guilty and ashamed, and then he realized why he had made her angry.
He took two steps forward and held her hand, asking her not to leave. He rubbed her wrist with his fingers, as if to seek reconciliation. Mu Wanyao stopped and squinted at him.
Yan Shang was embarrassed: "Then don't fill the lake?"
Hearing this, Mu Wan raised her eyebrows, her eyes were a little cold, but also a little playful. It was obvious that her attitude was slightly relaxed.
Yan Shang explained with a smile: "I was wrong. I thought you brought me here to teach me how to fill the lake and exchange it for fertile farmland. I was too stupid. I didn't expect that Your Highness felt sorry for me and wanted to play with me and have a rest.
"Yaoyao, I made a mistake. Don't be angry, okay? It's such a nice day, why are you angry with me, a mediocre person like me?"
He spoke in such a soft and gentle voice, explaining everything and admitting his mistakes... Sincerity is an excellent conversation skill, and he used words very skillfully. Who could look at his gentle face and remain angry with him?
Mu Wan turned her face away and didn't look at him. She pouted her lips and muttered, "I'm not angry."
Yan Shang followed suit: "Yes, I was wrong."
Mu Wan's cheeks were burning as she pondered over Yan Shang's explanation. She also felt that she liked the compliment he gave her. She said in a bossy tone, "Well, you said I told you to fill the lake and exchange it for fertile land. Just think so. You should also say this to outsiders!"
Yan Shang smiled and said yes.
So she softened her attitude and was willing to be held in Yan Shang's arms. Standing by the lake, Yan Shang held her back and hugged her so intimately. Mu Wanyao felt that her love had returned and her mood became better again.
Mu Wanyao requested: "You go and fill up the other lakes, and fill this lake last, so that I can enjoy it for two more days."
Yan Shang: "Yaoyao is really kind. When I fill the lake, I will make a stele for Your Highness and write that Your Highness instructed me to do this. You and I only live for a few decades, but the stele will be passed down for hundreds and thousands of years. When future generations look at it, they will know how Your Highness is a princess who understands the greater good."
Mu Wanyao burst into laughter.
She raised her head and touched his chin with her fingers: "You are really good at talking... You are so sweet. Come, give me a kiss."
Yan Shang's eyes drifted slightly, signaling her to look at the maids behind and not to talk nonsense.
Mu Wanyao pulled his neck forcefully, forcing him to lower his head, and bit his lips.
His heart skipped a beat and he took three steps back in shock.
Mu Wan rolled her eyes at him and smiled: "The stone tablet will not only say that I am a man of integrity, but it will also record how loving we are as a couple..."
Yan Shang: “Ah…”
When he thought of this, he was a little reluctant to carve the stone tablet. He always kept a low profile and didn't want their private relationship to be known to the whole world, let alone be speculated by future generations. But it was only at this time that Mu Wanyao really took this matter to heart and thought about filling the lake.
Mu Wanyao and Yan Shang discussed the general rules of filling the lake with great interest, and then they were satisfied. After they were satisfied, Mu Wanyao was in the mood to take Yan Shang to sit by the lake, grill fish, and enjoy the scenery.
Mu Wanyao sat obediently on a huge rock, which had been covered with a square towel by the maid. After Mu Wanyao sat down, she drove the servants away to play, so as not to disturb her and Yan Shang. Yan Shang could only truly relax when he was with her and there were no outsiders.
Yan Shang lowered his head to grill fish for her. Since the maids were not around, he took care of her personally. He was considerate and meticulous, and specially prepared a handkerchief to pick out the bones. He picked out all the small bones on the fish meat before he was willing to hand it to Mu Wanyao.
Mu Wan shook: "Second Brother Yan, you treat me so well."
Yan Shang looked up at her in surprise, not understanding why she suddenly said that.
Mu Wanyao praised: "You are so kind. Outside, you are thinking about filling the lake, and inside, you are thinking about picking fish bones for me. You don't interfere with each other. How can you be so kind?"
She came to praise him again.
No matter how many times, every time she got excited and praised him enthusiastically, Yan Shang would feel embarrassed. Yan Shang lowered his head and seriously found fault with her, and he was a little amused: "Why is it happening again? You praise me every day, and I am almost flattered by you. I don't know how much I weigh anymore."
Mu Wanyao: "You are just so good! How can you not be praised for being so good? You have done so many things, but no one praises you?"
Yan Shang seemed to be complaining: "No one else would be like you, saying so much when they think of it."
Mu Wanyao: "But what I said is my true feelings! I just think you are so good. You are so good that sometimes I feel inferior to you. I feel that I can't keep up with you and I am not worthy of you."
Yan Shang did not try to appease her about whether she was suitable for him or not, but answered: "It is like this sometimes. Maybe sometimes... you just feel that you are not worthy of the other person. I often have this feeling, too. But it only lasts for a while. Most of the time, we are just ordinary men and women, so there is no such thing as being suitable for each other."
Mu Wanyao was suspicious: "Do you feel that you are not worthy of me? Is it because of your background?"
Yan Shang lowered his head: "There are many reasons. For example, your courage, purity, determination, and reckless stubbornness... I envy you."
He was lost in thought for a while and said, "I can only do some chores, but Yaoyao is a talented woman. I don't appreciate many things, I can't tell what is good and what is bad, I just envy you how you can tell at a glance that this is good and that is bad...
"The world in Yaoyao's eyes must be colorful and glittering, right?
"The colors I see are so boring and monotonous. I often wonder why you have such big mood swings. The world you see must be so wonderful."
Mu Wan held her chin in her hand, her eyes curved, and looked at the young man sitting below her with a smile and affection. While he grilled fish for her, he told her his thoughts in detail.
The gap between people is huge. Even lovers who love each other to the extreme cannot say that they fully understand each other. Mu Wanyao loved to listen to Yan Shang telling her about his troubles and his thoughts... She listened to a world completely different from her own as if she was listening to a story, and once again admired the wonderful fate between people.
Her husband is a person with poor aesthetic taste. It turns out that he doesn't think he is good, he also wants rich senses.
She was so happy with him!
The wind blew on her cheeks, and Mu Wanyao leaned over and held a strand of Yan Shang's hair that fell on her cheek. She said his hair was crooked and asked him not to move. So Yan Shang still lowered his head to grill the fish, while Mu Wanyao sat on a boulder that was half a head taller than him and lowered her head to adjust his hair.
She lowered her head and saw his thick and curled eyelashes, his fair face and pink lips.
When she was in a trance, he raised his head and handed her a piece of fish meat that he had chosen. His eyes sparkled and stars fell, and he gently advised her to be careful of the heat.
For a moment, Mu Wanyao was fed by him and felt that the present time was so good. She was reluctant to leave the good things, and she was unwilling to change the good things.
Yan Shang held the chopsticks for a long time, but Mu Wan did not open her mouth. Seeing that the fish was getting cold, he looked at her in confusion. He saw Mu Wan looking at him, and slowly, a smile flowed in her eyes and the corners of her lips pursed.
Yan Shang was helpless, but he was also amused by her inexplicable behavior: "What are you laughing at?"
Mu Wanyao smiled, hugged her knees and held her chin. She opened her mouth to eat the meat, but Yan Shang said it was cold and couldn't let her eat it. He ate the little bit of meat he had picked out, and Mu Wanyao hugged her knees and watched him pick out the fish bones for her again. He was busy for a long time, but he only ate a little bit.
Mu Wan held her chin up and stared at him. After a while, she suddenly said, "What should I do, second brother?"
The busy Yan Shang raised his face slightly.
The wind blew her hair, and her clothes fluttered like a tangerine. Mu Wan shook her head and smiled foolishly: "I don't want to go back to Chang'an."
Yan Shang didn't understand what she really meant for a moment.
Mu Wanyao looked at him and smiled: "I don't want to go back to Chang'an. I don't want those powers anymore. I don't want to read the letters that the ministers in the court write to me every month. I have been away from there for so long. What do those things have to do with me? I can't be the empress.
"I seem to like the present life. My second brother is recuperating here, so he doesn't have to deal with too many chores and can spend more time with me. I picked up the skills I lost when I was young, read books, and flipped through ancient music scores. We stayed in Lingnan, closed the door and lived our own lives, not caring about the turmoil in Chang'an.
"We are like a couple made in heaven! No, I wouldn't change even if you made me a god!
"I suddenly... don't seem to like power that much. I seem to like you more. Power is enough to protect myself, but my second brother is the one who will spend my whole life with me."
Yan Shang stared at her without saying anything.
Mu Wan shook her head and acted coquettishly: "Say something! I confessed to you, I said I like you more than power, and you didn't react at all?"
There is light in his eyes when he speaks.
He said slowly: "Yaoyao, I am very happy."
Muwan raised his eyebrows.
He said softly, "It's not because you said I finally took the first place in your heart. It's because you can say such words, because... you finally reconciled with the past. I don't intend to dwell on what you love more, that doesn't make much sense. When people make real choices, the momentary impulse, the real thoughts, and the deep-rooted thoughts in daily life may be different.
"I'm just happy, Yaoyao, that you finally let go of the past and walked out of the shadows. I've been with you for several years, and we've known each other for nearly ten years... I can pull you out of the nightmare of the past, make you stop worrying about it, and make you think about the present and the future...
"I deserve your love and I haven't let you down, right?"
Mu Wanyao looked at him quietly.
Tears welled up in her eyes. She wanted to say something, but when she opened her lips, a smile spilled out of her lips. Her heart was sour and bitter, bitter and sweet. She was not grateful for the sufferings in the past, but she was grateful to God for letting her meet Yan Shang. God treated her well in the end. He took away some things from her, but compensated her with the best Yan Shang in the world.
She loved this compensation.
Mu Wan said obediently and coquettishly: "Second Brother Yan, do you want to hug me?"
She paused for a moment, her eyes filled with tears. She opened her arms to him, raised her face and closed her eyes, and said in a charming and charming way: "Do you want to kiss me?"
Yan Shang smiled, he stood up, put down what he was doing, sat over, leaned over and hugged her in his arms.
-----
Birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and the world is quiet and beautiful.
The couple snuggled together, but not long after they were in love, they heard the sound of hurried horse hooves.
Yan Shang let go of Mu Wanyao. He stood beside the sitting Mu Wanyao and put his hand on her shoulder. He turned around and saw Fang Tong coming to them in a hurry with several letters in her hands.
Fang Tong shook his head towards Mu Wan and said, "The ministers' letters to Your Highness were delivered to Chang'an this month."
Mu Wan lowered her eyes.
Fang Tong turned to Yan Shang again: "Erlang, Madam Xiaozhou wrote you a letter...but she sent it as fast as she could through the emergency delivery channel that Han Shuxing agreed with us."
Yan Shang's expression became quiet, and his hand on Mu Wan's shoulder trembled. Emergency channels are naturally not used under normal circumstances. Xiao Zhou... is there something wrong?
His heart was in turmoil, and Mu Wan shook his hand. He calmed down, smiled at Mu Wan, and then tore open the letter.
Mu Wanyao read the letters from several ministers at a glance and felt that the situation in Chang'an had not changed. From the corner of her eye, she saw Yan Shang's expression becoming more and more calm. When she was angry and uneasy about him, he raised his face and handed the letter to Mu Wanyao.
Yan Shang: "The information that Yang Sanlang said... must be quickly communicated to Chang'an."
-----
Yang Si is now working as a laborer repairing the city at the border, but his keen observation skills, developed from his many years of military career, should not be underestimated.
Through Yan Xiaozhou, he described in detail the unusual behavior of the Nanman border troops in the past few months. For example, the number of troops was decreasing, and the frequency of conflicts with Wei was different from previous years... All of this showed one piece of information: the Nanman might be planning to attack Wei.
Yang Si judged that now that spring grass was beginning to grow and all things were reviving, the Southern Barbarians had recovered from their hibernation during the previous winter, so if they really wanted to mobilize troops, now would be the best time.
Yang Si suspected that the civil strife in the Southern Barbarians had ended. Now it was just a feint to paralyze the Wei Dynasty. The Southern Barbarians were ambitious and might have been coveting this war for a long time.
When this news reached Yan Shang and Mu Wanyao, they certainly could not take it for granted.
Yan Shang was good at socializing and he made many friends in the officialdom. After Yang Si received the letter, Yan Shang began to write letters to the Jiedushi of Jiannan Road, the Jiedushi of Longyou Road, and several generals guarding the two formations, asking them for detailed military intelligence.
Yan Shang was also worried that Lingnan was remote and that the long correspondence would delay military affairs, so he asked these people to reply to him later. The most important thing was to send the reply to Chang'an.
Several pieces of intelligence arrived at the same time. Yan Shang's teacher Liu Xianggong, who was in charge of Chang'an, would definitely see the problem. At the same time, Yan Shang also wrote a letter to Liu Xianggong, explaining in detail why Yang Si passed the message through him.
Even Yan Shang was cautious - he realized that if the Wei Dynasty and the Southern Barbarians were to go to war, Yang Si's letter would become a breakthrough for Yang Si to redeem himself with meritorious service.
Yan Shang not only wanted to consider the interests of the Great Wei, he also wanted to take the opportunity to clear Yang Si of the charges and help Yang Sanlang restore his reputation.
-----
In April, the officialdom in Chang'an City entered a tense state. Prime Minister Liu presided over a court meeting to discuss the situation of the Southern Barbarians, the mobilization of Wei troops, and the preparation of food and fodder.
Liu Wenzhi held a military position, so of course he would participate in such court discussions.
The only one excluded was the emperor.
But the emperor obviously didn't care - his ministers were too powerful and the emperor had nothing to do. When the whole court was discussing the credibility of the intelligence sent by Yan Erlang and whether Wei should fight or make peace with the Nanman, the emperor was trying to persuade his ministers to let him travel around the country.
The emperor was very excited and wanted to tour the territory of Wei as the Son of Heaven to see how powerful the Wei Dynasty was under his rule.
The government affairs were managed by several ministers, and the emperor had no say. When Yan Shang was in Chang'an, the emperor tried to argue with the ministers. After Yan Shang left, the emperor found that he could not argue with these ministers, and he was afraid that if time went on, his shallowness would be exposed, so he simply followed the ministers.
Now, the emperor just wants to travel around the world!
But Liu Xianggong and others slammed the table and said that they wanted to go to war. If they wanted to go to war, they naturally had to check the accounts of the Ministry of Revenue, ensure that the treasury had sufficient food and grass, and calculate the use of every penny. The emperor's tour would naturally be postponed and could not be approved.
Liu Xianggong was a tough man, and he suppressed the voices against war in the court. In his opinion, the Nanman had been planning for a long time, and if Wei did not start a war but asked for peace, it would make the Nanman take advantage of it. Wei might not have as many troops as the Nanman, but Wei's abundant reserve materials were far beyond the Nanman's reach.
No matter whether we win or lose this battle, Wei will fight.
Prime Minister Liu was wary of Liu Wenji's intervention to stop the war. Because the contradiction between scholars and eunuchs was so obvious, Liu Wenji would oppose all his decisions.
However, Liu Wenji did not oppose the war, which made the soldiers feel relieved.
Liu Wenji was indeed not against war. The scholar group could profit from war, and so could the eunuchs. War was the fastest way to get promoted... Liu Wenji wanted to embed the eunuchs' power deeper, and to bring all the scholar forces headed by the Zhao family to high positions.
Only the emperor was unhappy. He complained to Liu Wenji that his chance to travel around the world was taken away by Prime Minister Liu, and that no one cared about him as an emperor.
Liu Wenzhi dealt with the emperor perfunctorily, despising the emperor's short-sightedness in his heart.
However, Liu Wenji's mentality of cooperating with the war changed at the end of April. A group of southern barbarians entered Chang'an in disguise. They did not meet the emperor, but first met this eunuch Liu, asking him to cooperate with the southern barbarians.
-----
Yan Shang and Mu Wanyao stayed in Lingnan, writing a letter every day, and sending it between Chang'an and Lingnan at full speed. It was just that the place where they lived was too remote, and the information was too delayed, so they could not get the fastest news at all.
Yan Shang was in agony and began to suffer from insomnia at night, fearing that the war would break out early and Chang'an would not be ready.
On the sleepless night of Yan Shang and his wife, the Nanman had organized their troops and divided them into two armies, each of which started to attack from Hexi and Jiannan. The troops in Hexi were led by others, and Jiannan was targeted by the Nanman King Ale because it was a rich land. King Ale personally deployed his troops and sat here, hoping to capture Jiannan.
Meng Zaishi followed King Ale and saw that once the decision to start the war was made, this self-willed king burst out with unprecedented sharp intuition. King Ale not only sent people to Chang'an to meet Liu Wenji, but also sent people to investigate the officers and soldiers in Jiannan to investigate the opponent's weaknesses.
That night, the border troops at Jiannan Road were much stricter than usual because they were wary of the southern barbarians. But when it was time to change guards in the second half of the night, the guards began to relax.
After a tiring day, Yang Si fell asleep in the tent as usual. With his eyes closed, he suddenly felt the movement of light and shadow. He immediately sat up and looked at the tent among the soldiers who were sleeping soundly. After a while, another moving shadow was reflected on the tent...
Yang Si jumped up and climbed out of the tent.
The flaming arrows attacked the camp in the dark. The enemy approached cautiously like an assassin and killed the soldiers on guard. When he turned around, he saw a young man in black approaching, his figure as fast as black lightning.
"court death!"
Yang Si let out a long roar, and the entire military camp woke up, and the battle began!
-----
The moon and stars are sparse.
After the night watchman sounded, in Liu Wenji's private residence in Chang'an City, Liu Wenji sat in a corner, watching the foreigner speaking in the unfamiliar Wei dialect and talking to him:
"The king of our country has kept evidence of what the eunuch did. Your teacher, the eunuch Cheng'an, is now being fed and pampered by our king. He will be finished when the Wei Dynasty is finished. Otherwise, we will personally send this eunuch Cheng'an back to the Wei Dynasty and let him meet you.
"We are a master and a disciple. I wonder if the father-in-law wants to see him?"
Liu Wenji stared at the bearded foreigner with a sinister look. He asked slowly, "What do you want?"
The other party replied: "We want land, money, gold, silver, jewelry, and beautiful women... Eunuch, we have set our eyes on the land of Jiannan. If the Great Wei gives it to us, the king of our clan is willing to sign an alliance with His Majesty the Great Wei and never invade the Great Wei!"
Liu Wenzhi remained silent.
I thought to myself, Jiannan...you guys are really asking for too much. How dare you?
Liu Wenji lowered his head and smiled: "I need to think about it."
The other party said: "Don't think too long... Eunuch, if my guess is correct, our first army has already entered your Great Wei."
Liu Wenji's eyes suddenly shrank, and a snowy light burst out. The other party laughed maliciously and said, "Your Wei army can't beat us."
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